The big renovation: 1908 home

KBasa said:

Floor plans, man. Throw some up!

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Silly Rabbit
His cement guys couldn't pour a straight wall because he only has paintings of the idea not floor plans.

The cement guys could be BMW riders and know straight lines are boring. The framers probably ride Harleys.

So they said three weeks and it's turning into 4-5 weeks. Not a big surprise with the concrete snafu. They're being *very* careful with the remainder of the work and care requires time. I've never seen framers frame to the 1/16". I've now seen the lead carpenter pull apart someone else's work three times. Not because it wasn't "good enough", but because it wasn't exact enough for him. So long as I don't pay for their extra time, I'm ok if not very happy.



The pieces are coming together.
New sewer and water lines coming... (see following post)
Kitchen cabinets and pricey countertop ordered.
Roofer lined up.
HVAC is lined up.
Windows show up this week or so.
Ordering doors any day now (turn around is far less than on the windows).
I think we've settled on a bathroom plan
Almost chosen flooring
Debating the pluses and minuses of different PEX systems/brands
blah blah blah

People keep asking about deadlines. All I've really got for them is a "We'll see". Delays are inevitable, but the work is progressing.

A frantic day today. The convergence of bidding contractors, inspectors, engineering questions for an engineer who refuses to answer his phone, and some regular life made me a little insane for a stretch. A lack of sleep doesn't help. My wife coming home and saying, "We have to leave in 20 minutes for the birthing class" nearly put me over, but I was too damn tired to protest - so I saved it for some juvenile antics in the class.

But another damn good day or so. I like checking things off the list.


It's the top of the world! Or just some ceiling joists.


It's time for the big ridge beams. A couple micro lams paired up on each corner, each on their own post. After it was dropped onto the post they shoved it around a bit to get it right. The lead was heard saying, "Bring it towards me one more sixteenth." hot damn.



While they're working with the wood, the excavator shows up to run the new sewer and water lines. I told myself it was only concrete dust, not a whiff of smoking sewer poo.



The line was in remarkably good condition across its final run. Some erosion on the inside, but fairly solid. Unfortunately, it entered the house at an odd spot and I knew it had been pulled apart by a cherry tree further up.



I've mentioned him before. Hector, to quote a friend, "is the man." While he's not inclined to cut to the 1/16", he does work damn fast and gets his stuff right. He cut a pile of rafters in a fraction of the time it would have taken me to whittle a single one down into kindling with mistake after mistake.

Surveying his work




A few final cuts


And it's time for the fascia boards




p.s. they're wearing invisible harnesses

Wow, what a furious pace.
You have to be worn out. Working with contractors can be interesting, can't it? It's their schedule whether you like it or not. Throw in your "regular life", if having your first child can be called "regular", has to make for some very interesting moments.
Hang in there Scott, it's coming along.

knary said:

I think we're going to be glad we're doing this in one giant push. Expensive up front and time consuming right now, but over all it'll cost us less and, I hope, we'll end up with a better finished product.

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Great reading -- love the house. We've done both -- the piecemeal redo and the all-at-one-time. I much prefer getting it all done at once. The time, expense and (certain) frustrations we endured faded over time as we enjoyed the home. Thanks for the pictures -- keep us posted.

knary said:

One of the workers was digging for some post footings in our dirt floor basement, working under the old oil lines. "Hey, I found a coin. Cool... a silver dollar." I was down there pulling out some old wire and as I leaned over to take a look he put the shovel in again...In 1937 someone buried $95.87 in coins, some dating back to 1878. All told, there 249 coins, including 20 silver dollars and 101 half dollars. Most are very worn. In today's dollars, that's a bit more than $1400. Can you imagine burying that kind of cash in a cotton bag in the dirt?

What's it worth today? I don't think there are any rare gems and none are in mint condition. Best guess, perhaps $2500, but it'll take some sorting out. Still very very cool.

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I wondered whether you would find any stashed money -- seemed to be a popular thing to do during the depression.

In spite of the stem wall that was out of square, everything else seems to be proceeding well.

wezul said:

Wow, what a furious pace.
You have to be worn out. Working with contractors can be interesting, can't it? It's their schedule whether you like it or not. Throw in your "regular life", if having your first child can be called "regular", has to make for some very interesting moments.
Hang in there Scott, it's coming along.

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I'm trying.

While I'm still too thrifty to pay a GC, I do understand why they take their cut.

In 1993, we were expecting our first child (now 15 year old Samuel) the same fall, we added on to our home, me the GC, our foundation was 4"too high, ended up dropping the subfloor into the foundation in pockets (It still is holding solid after 16 years I hear).

It was a post and beam house, so nobody wanted the job due to unconventional construction- so I did it.

Memories, memories, memories. By Christmas, I set my last bathroom tile, and Sam was born in May.

We are more alike than you know, Scott!

Good luck with the rest, your doing great, and it all looks good, Mr. GC!

Dale

Reading this thread, I can feel your stress, Scott. I had a little taste of it with a garage extension project this summer, and that was enough for me. Here's the (almost) end result:



The best part was getting the junk out of the yard.

Sounds like you've got some super trades working in there.

Thanksgiving in the house huh?
I'll pray for you.

Outstanding thread!!!

Scott, you're probably the only person in the country that might benefit from having even more foundation work done. At the rate you're finding money the project might pay for itself. I'm wondering where they buried the bills.

Dig Scott, dig....

Easy

Scott,

In the business what you are doing is not remodeling. It is called a "gut rehab". That is, the entire stricture is gutted and rehabilitated from ground to roof.

Good for you on all counts,Scott.I remember the agony of indecision you went through before you bought this house,and now,look at you!!

PGlaves said:

Scott,

In the business what you are doing is not remodeling. It is called a "gut rehab". That is, the entire stricture is gutted and rehabilitated from ground to roof.

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I call it "the devastation".

jgr451 said:

Good for you on all counts,Scott.I remember the agony of indecision you went through before you bought this house,and now,look at you!!

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I try to remember or I start to wonder if this was such a good idea.

Five years ago we had a less than stellar choice in a tough seller's market between old houses in a few different parts of town. We made the right choice if not an easy one. Our neighborhood is booming perhaps more than any in Portland, with prices (one indicator) almost holding steady through the worst downturn and now moving up again. Real estate across the spectrum is being improved with new restaurants and shops opening up and down the street.

Today, with the impending baby, we had a new choice. Move or renovate. Our kitchen was abysmal (we gutted it shortly after buying the house), our plumbing barely worked, the windows rattled, the rear of the house was badly sagging, lead paint abounded, and so on. We looked at homes in other areas and in places we wanted to live, we would still have to deal with an old fixer - if not quite in as sorry a state as this one - and I'd lose the studio. That assumed that we could sell this one in a timely manner. And with the unmovable deadline of the baby, the choice was easy.

-grab knees and start rocking-
choice was easy
choice was easy
choice was easy

We were given a choice between big lumber or more engineering. We opted for big lumber. The framing could continue and the cost is a wash. Paired up microlams again, this time staggered so that one 'half' of each pair catches the 1x's of the original roof.







If the weather allows (some rain is fine, wind not so much), the roofers will be out this week. Shingles require sheathing, and that's what was finished today.




The crew doing the structural work has finished essentially everything in the original contract - a bit over a week late, but not too bad considering the foundation snafu. I'm having them do a little more while they're on site: level the porch, replace the remaining ceiling joists and lift another corner of the house.



It's got a wonderful glow inside.

Looking good! I'm helping my brother with a similar project 6 hours away in Buffalo, NY. He and my 73 yo Dad did the gutting and framing, I did wiring, plumbing and HVAC. The drywall was hired out, then he painted, did the flooring, and I hung cabinets, plumbing finish out and tied in the new panel. Still have some trim to finish up and siding but it's getting there. He opted to spray 2" of the foam on the exterior walls both for sound and R value, then added fiberglass batts as well for R-26 to fight the Buffalo cold. We also put in conduits for future wire pulls to the panel, but as mentioned, with everything going wireless we didn't go overboard. Next spring we will remove an old attatched garage and replaxce it with a livingroom/foyer addition, but he needs a rest for now.

Thanks for keeping us posted on your progress, it has been fun to watch!